Ducks Lucky and Good

Things are going so well for the Mighty Ducks these days, goals are falling from the sky.

Mike Leclerc’s innocent flick of the puck in the second period ricocheted off the glass behind the net, rolled off the top of the net, then glanced off Pittsburgh goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin’s glove and plopped into the net.

If there was a Kodak moment that showed the different directions these two teams had, that was it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had enough issues to deal with after the Ducks’ 5-0 victory at the Arrowhead Pond on Sunday. They didn’t need blind puck luck adding to their woes.

Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere set two franchise records: three consecutive shutouts and consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.

The line of Andy McDonald (two goals), Matt Cullen (four assists) and Leclerc (one goal, three assists) put on an offensive exhibition, each with numbers very much like the guy many of the announced 16,542 paid to see: Mario Lemieux.

“I can’t remember us playing this well when it really meant something, as far as fighting for the playoffs,” Cullen said. “We really believe in what we’re doing right now; that drives us, gives us a lot confidence. That’s something we haven’t had in a long time.”

The Ducks’ fourth consecutive victory certainly gave them the look of a legitimate playoff contender. They’re four games over .500 for the first time since December 1999. They reached the first 20 games in the race, raced past Thanksgiving still in contention and are now approaching Christmas.

“Those are all milestones, landmarks, as you go along through the year,” Cullen said. “These are big games for our playoff hopes.”

Meanwhile, Lemieux was smothered, which ended his 13-game point streak. The vaunted Penguin power play, which was tops in the NHL, was scoreless in three opportunities.

“They came out pretty hard, trying to get themselves some momentum,” Giguere said.

“After the first 10 minutes, there was no doubt who was the better team.”

Giguere wasn’t overworked, but he did stop early chances. The Penguins had two power play chances in the first 12 minutes. They got only one shot out of it. That set the tone.

Giguere’s goal-less streak stands at 200 minutes 15 seconds. The Ducks made things easy on him, with a 47-19 shot advantage. The Penguins had only three during a 25-minute stretch in the first and second periods.

“There were 10 minutes left in the game and they had 12 shots,” Leclerc said. “We were playing a team with a power play over 30%, with Mario Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev. You had to figure you’re playing a pretty solid game.”

The defense was sharp, yet the offense was hardly lacking.

Keith Carney gave the Ducks the lead, when he charged the net and chipped in a pass from Paul Kariya 10:17 into the game. Then Cullen and Leclerc heated up.

Petr Sykora was there to backhand in a rebound off a Cullen shot for a 2-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the first period. McDonald buried a pass from Cullen on a two-on-one two minutes into the second period and the rout was on. Leclerc, who was playing his second game since returning from a knee injury, then dropped in his impossible shot for a 4-0 lead at 13:34 of the period.

“I’m pretty good at pool,” Leclerc said.

Said Cullen: “Does he even get a shot for that?”

Leclerc, Cullen and McDonald made a nice tic-tac-toe connection, with McDonald redirecting the puck past Aubin for a 5-0 lead 8:14 into the third period.